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News Releases en-usOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing Web Group)http://usgs.govhttp://www.usgs.gov/images/header_graphic_usgsIdentifier_white.jpgUSGSusgs/EnvironmentalHealthhttps://feedburner.google.comPRbiomagnification ToxicSubstancesHydrology
environment environmentalHealth
EcosystemsFisheriesAquaticandEndangeredResource
s ToxicsAndFoodWebshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/VmI3ByjDUPA/article.asp
stateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong>
This model provides a new global tool for screening existing and new organic chemicals for their biomagnification potential. Hot colors (red, orange and yellow) indicate a high probability of biomagnification and cool colors (greens, blues) indicate a low probability of biomagnification.(USGS)
Researchers have figured out what makes certain chemicals accumulate to toxic levels in aquatic food webs. And, scientists have developed a screening technique to determine which chemicals pose the greatest risk to the environment.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:cpuckett@usgs.gov">Catherine&nbsp;Puckett</a>
( Phone: 352-377-2469
);
<a href="mailto:hkoontz@usgs.gov">Heidi&nbsp;Koontz</a>
( Phone: 303-202-4763
);
</p>
<br>
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<br> <table style="border-color: #97907c; border-width: 1px; width: 300px;" border="1" cellpadding="5" align="right">
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<td><img src="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2016-04-20/Biomagnification.png" alt="" width="330" /></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>This model provides a new global tool for screening existing and new organic chemicals for their biomagnification potential. Hot colors (red, orange and yellow) indicate a high probability of biomagnification and cool colors (greens, blues) indicate a low probability of biomagnification.(USGS)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>Researchers have figured out what makes certain chemicals accumulate to toxic levels in aquatic food webs. And, scientists have developed a screening technique to determine which chemicals pose the greatest risk to the environment.</p>
<p>According to the study led by the U.S. Geological Survey, two traits were identified that indicate how chemicals can build up and reach toxic levels: &nbsp;how easily a chemical is broken down or metabolized by an organism and the chemical&rsquo;s ability to dissolve in water.</p>
<p>These traits account for how most chemicals concentrate, or biomagnify, in ever-higher levels as one goes up the food chain from its base to its top predators, such as fish, people, or polar bears. Chemicals that have the ability to biomagnify, such as DDT, can have adverse effects on human and wildlife health and the environment.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Chemical manufacturers and regulators can use this information to reduce the risks of harmful chemical exposures to ecosystems and the fish, wildlife and people who live in them,&rdquo; said David Walters, a USGS research ecologist and lead author of the study. &ldquo;By screening for these two characteristics, we can identify chemicals that pose the greatest risk of the thousands that are on the market and for new ones being developed.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The study found that poorly metabolized compounds tend to remain in animal tissues and are passed up the food chain in higher, more toxic amounts as one animal is eaten by another and so on.&nbsp; Likewise, compounds that don&rsquo;t dissolve well in water accumulate in animal fats, ultimately exponentially increasing in top predators.</p>
<p>Beyond these chemical properties, the researchers found that certain ecosystems and food webs are more vulnerable to biomagnification than others. For example, extremely high biomagnification occurred in ocean food webs that include birds and mammals. The authors noted this may be in part due to longer food chains in these ecosystems&nbsp; that is, many levels and kinds of predators - and because warm-blooded animals need to consume more food than do cold-blooded animals like fish.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Building upon these results, the researchers developed a model of biomagnification based upon how chemicals metabolize and dissolve in water. The likelihood that a chemical would biomagnify was highest &ndash; nearly 100 percent -- for slowly metabolized compounds such as chlorinated flame retardants and PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, regardless of their solubility in water.</p>
<p>We need to learn from our previous mistakes and have more informed and responsible design and use of chemicals in the environment,&rdquo; said Karen Kidd, a Canada Research Chair at University of New Brunswick Saint John and co-author of the study. &ldquo;Our global review provides a straightforward approach for reducing the use of chemicals with the properties to concentrate through food webs.&nbsp; This is a critical step for decreasing risks for humans and wildlife from potentially harmful chemical exposures in foods.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Since the emergence of DDT as a global problem for wildlife in the 1950s and 60s, science has kept a close watch on the behavior of persistent organic pollutants, especially chemicals that may concentrate through food webs to potentially toxic levels in wildlife and humans. Many are resistant to environmental degradation and remain in the environment for decades. While biomagnification can be measured in the laboratory, said Walters, it is best determined by measuring how much the chemical increases with each step in the food chain in wild animal populations.</p>
<p>USGS research partners in this study, &ldquo;Trophic Magnification of Organic Chemicals: A Global Synthesis,&rdquo; include the Toxicology Centre at the University of Saskatchewan, the Canadian Rivers Institute at the University of New Brunswick, and Environment and Climate Change Canada. The study is published in Environmental Science and Technology.</p>
<p>This research was supported by the USGS Ecosystems and Environmental Health Mission Areas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes Research Initiative, and the Canada Research Chair and Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada programs.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/VmI3ByjDUPA" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 20 Apr 2016 10:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4512&from=rssPREcosystemsTerrestrialFreshwaterandMarineEnvironments
Ecosystems EnvironmentalHealth
EnvironmentalHealthContaminantBiology
GeographicAreasNortheasthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/2bHNJZ6fnHU/article.asp
stateDEstateMDstatePAstateVAstateWVstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->The world's largest breeding population of ospreys is coping well with the long-lasting residues of toxic chemicals that were banned decades ago but remain in the Chesapeake Bay food chain at varying levels, such as the pesticide DDT and insulating chemicals known as PCBs
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Up to 10,000 pairs are nesting now in Chesapeake Bay,</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:brattner@usgs.gov">Barnett &nbsp;Rattner</a>
( Phone: 301-497-5671
);
<a href="mailto:hdewar@usgs.gov">Heather&nbsp;Dewar</a>
( Phone: 443-498-5584
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><!--introstart-->The world's largest breeding population of ospreys is coping well with the long-lasting residues of toxic chemicals that were banned decades ago but remain in the Chesapeake Bay food chain at varying levels, such as the pesticide DDT and insulating chemicals known as PCBs.<!--introend--> The resilient fish hawks are also showing few effects from two other groups of chemicals that have become widespread in the estuary&mdash;flame retardant PBDEs and pharmaceuticals intended for human use. Those are key findings of a three-year study led by US Geological Survey scientists, which follows up on a wide-ranging USGS survey conducted in 2001 of persistent chemical pollutants in the fish and fish hawks of the Chesapeake Bay, the United States' biggest estuary.</p>
<table style="width: 760px;" border="0" cellpadding="3" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2016_ine5HtsGFB_03_25_2016_1"><img src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/03_25_2016/ine5HtsGFB_03_25_2016/large/osprey_chicks.jpg" alt="Osprey chicks in a nest" width="750" height="586" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>These osprey chicks in a nest on the James River in Virginia are just a few days old. Nestlings in industrial areas carry traces of toxic chemicals in their blood plasma, but osprey parents successfully raised chicks at almost all sites, says USGS scientist Rebecca Lazarus, lead author of 3 research papers on the ospreys' Chesapeake Bay food chain. Photo credit:&nbsp;<span>Rebecca Lazarus, USGS.</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>The researchers tested fish, osprey eggs and the blood plasma of osprey chicks in the Chesapeake Bay's tidal waters. In the ospreys' eggs they found high levels of PCBs at some locations. They also found residues of DDT and a related compound, p,p'-DDE, but at levels much lower than the ones that caused osprey and bald eagle population declines in the late 20<sup>th</sup> century. Both PCBs and DDT were banned in the 1970s. Further, the researchers found that young ospreys are being exposed to PBDEs, which are considered potentially toxic to wildlife. Yet these residues had no discernible effect on the big raptors' success in the Chesapeake region, where as many as 10,000 breeding pairs are expected to nest this season.&nbsp;</p>
<p>"Osprey populations are thriving almost everywhere in the Chesapeake," said Rebecca Lazarus, a researcher at the USGS' Patuxent Wildlife Research Center and the lead author of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/wol1/doi/10.1002/etc.3386/abstract">a report on the study's latest findings</a>,&nbsp;published April 1 in <em>Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry</em>. "We found them nesting in some of the most highly contaminated areas in the Bay and we did not find any relationship between contaminants and their nests' productivity."</p>
<p>The scientists found one cautionary sign: the osprey nestlings' blood carried low levels of a biological marker for genetic damage. Levels of the marker were highest in one of the bay's most polluted areas, near Baltimore's Back River wastewater treatment plant, and osprey nests near that plant did poorly at raising chicks to adulthood. Baywide, the damage is not enough to affect the birds' overall ability to reproduce, but it may be having subtle, undetected effects, and warrants more research, Lazarus said.</p>
<table style="width: 760px;" border="0" cellpadding="3" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/03_25_2016_ine5HtsGFB_03_25_2016_3"><img src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/03_25_2016/ine5HtsGFB_03_25_2016/large/RLazarus_at_osprey_nest_2.jpg" alt="Scientists handling osprey" width="750" height="630" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>USGS researcher Rebecca Lazarus prepares to take a blood sample from an osprey fledgling in a nest on the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, Delaware Bay in 2015. Lazarus and colleagues did similar sampling of 48 chicks on Chesapeake Bay in 2011-2013. All the Chesapeake Bay nestlings' blood plasma had traces of a human medication to fight hypertension, diltiazem, and biomarkers of low-grade genetic damage, with no discernible effects on the ospreys' reproductive success. Photo credit: USGS.</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>Ospreys have just returned from winter homes in South America to Chesapeake Bay, the estuary one writer called "the osprey garden of the world." The bay's shallow waters and abundant fish attract roughly one-quarter of the Lower 48 States&rsquo; ospreys. The fish hawks usually return to the nests they used the year before. In March the males in each of the Bay's breeding pairs began gathering sticks to mend their nests. By mid-April most females will be brooding two or three eggs.</p>
<p>These charismatic fish hawks are one of the world's most widely distributed birds, found on every continent but Antarctica, and one of its most distinctive, with golden eyes, six-foot wingspans, and barbed talons adapted to hold wet, wriggling fish. Their global range, all-fish diet, and their role as a top predator make them ideal subjects for studies of water pollutants' paths through the aquatic food chain. The USGS research is the one of the world's most comprehensive studies of ospreys' exposure to toxic chemicals; a similar study on Pacific Northwest ospreys was published in 2008.</p>
<p>In the 1960s and 1970s scientists found the pesticide DDT was biomagnifying, becoming concentrated in ospreys and other fish-eating birds and causing females to lay eggs so fragile that they cracked under the parents' weight. The bay's osprey population fell to fewer than 1,500 pairs before DDT was banned in the U.S. in 1972. In 1979 Congress also banned PCBs, which can cause reproductive failure in animals. PBDEs, which were introduced as replacements for PCBs, are being phased out because of concerns about potential toxicity.</p>
<p>The EPA classifies more than 70 percent of Chesapeake Bay tidal waters as impaired by toxic chemicals. To track these toxics and their effects on bay ospreys, Lazarus and her colleagues collected fish, osprey eggs, and blood samples from 48 osprey chicks along Chesapeake Bay tributaries in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. Working during the spring and summer nesting season from 2011 through 2013, they included several sites the EPA considers pollution "regions of concern" &nbsp;&ndash; Baltimore's Harbor and Patapsco River; Washington, DC's Anacostia and Potomac rivers; and the Elizabeth River at Hampton Roads, Virginia.</p>
<p>In the first set of study findings, published in 2015 in the journal <em>Environmental Pollution</em>, the researchers found that in these heavily industrial, urban regions of concern, levels of the DDT breakdown byproduct were 80% lower than in the 2001 study, but PCB levels barely declined at all. Osprey eggs from developed areas had PCB levels three to four times higher than at nests on an island in the open bay.</p>
<p>"In fact the levels of PCBs have not changed significantly in the past 35 years, which tells you how persistent these chemicals are," said USGS ecotoxicologist Barnett Rattner, an expert on toxics in bay ospreys who led the 2000-2001 study and worked with Lazarus on the latest research. "Yet the birds are doing well. They're exposed to these toxic chemicals, which are biomagnified up the food chain, yet fortunately we do not see any really serious effects in ospreys."</p>
<p>In the next phase of the work, the researchers reported finding numerous human medications in Chesapeake Bay water samples, but only one in osprey chicks. Pharmaceutical compounds pass through humans' waste into wastewater treatment plants and septic systems, which discharge them into waterways. The scientists looked for 23 pharmaceutical compounds and an artificial sweetener and found 18 of them in bay waters and seven in fish. The drug diltiazem, used to treat hypertension in people, was found in all 48 chicks' blood samples, though at levels below those known to cause adverse effects in wildlife.</p>
<p>"Some of these chemicals are in the wastewater stream, but they do not seem to be biomagnifying in ospreys," Rattner said. Those results were published in 2015 in the journal <em>Integrated Environmental Assessment and Managemen</em>t.</p>
<p>For more information on USGS science being used to help restore the Chesapeake Bay, visit <a href="http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/">http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/</a></p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/2bHNJZ6fnHU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 4 Apr 2016 9:44:42 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4502&from=rssPREnvironmentalHealthToxicSubstancesHydrology Uranium
GrandCanyon Arizona mininghttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/kTbD7BS4ylU/article.asp
stateAZstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> Scientists have collected and analyzed 84 environmental samples to establish baseline data prior to any active uranium mining activities at the Canyon Uranium Mine, located south of Grand Canyon National Park.&nbsp; This baseline information will play an important role in assessing if contaminants escape from the mine site and how they would move through the environment once mining operations begin.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:apdemas@usgs.gov">Alex&nbsp;Demas</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4421
);
<a href="mailto:mfocazio@usgs.gov">Mike&nbsp;Focazio</a>
( Phone: 703-648-6808
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p>Scientists have collected and analyzed 84 environmental samples to establish baseline data prior to any active uranium mining activities at the Canyon Uranium Mine, located south of Grand Canyon National Park.&nbsp; This baseline information will play an important role in assessing if contaminants escape from the mine site and how they would move through the environment once mining operations begin.</p>
<p>Canyon Mine is currently not producing any uranium ore. The mine is located within the public lands acreage in northern Arizona that <a href="https://www.doi.gov/news/pressreleases/Secretary-Salazar-Announces-Decision-to-Withdraw-Public-Lands-near-Grand-Canyon-from-New-Mining-Claims">the Department of the Interior withdrew</a> in 2012 from consideration for new uranium mining claims for 20 years. However, Canyon Mine can still produce uranium ore, because it is one of four pre-existing mines that were permitted before the 2012 decision.</p>
<p>&ldquo;A key factor in Interior&rsquo;s 2012 decision was the limited amount of scientific data available to assess potential uranium extraction effects on the Grand Canyon and surrounding areas,&rdquo; said USGS director Suzette Kimball. &ldquo;Fortunately, the USGS has expertise across the country in collecting baseline data and analyzing samples for water and sediment quality.&rdquo;</p>
<p>USGS scientists have worked with the mine owners to collect samples for the baseline data study.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Getting into the Canyon Mine area before any ore is extracted has provided an excellent opportunity to get high-quality baseline data,&rdquo; said USGS scientist Katie Walton-Day, who leads the research team on this project. &ldquo;That data are necessary to quantitatively assess off-site migration, if any, of mine-related contaminants resulting from future ore extraction activities at the Canyon Mine.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Baseline data from the study includes analysis of 33 contaminants in the 84 samples, including uranium, arsenic, molybdenum and vanadium. The following chart provides some of the results:</p>
<table style="width: 650px;" border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" summary="Table with a list of chemical consituents, with their associated Inside mine perimieter and outside mine perimeter (both with Low, Mean, and High numbers)">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th style="width: 86px;" valign="top" scope="col">
<p><strong>Chemical constituent</strong></p>
</th> <th style="width: 167px;" valign="top" scope="col">
<p><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; Inside mine perimeter (n = 3)</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em>Low&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mean&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; High</em></p>
</th> <th style="width: 162px;" valign="top" scope="col">
<p>&nbsp;<strong>Outside mine perimeter (n = 72)</strong></p>
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <em>Low&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mean&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; High</em></p>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="width: 86px; background-color: #c4f2fc;" valign="top" scope="row">
<p>Uranium</p>
</th>
<td style="width: 167px; background-color: #c4f2fc;" valign="top">
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 3.3&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 5.6&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 9.9</p>
</td>
<td style="width: 162px; background-color: #c4f2fc;" valign="top">
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1.4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2.0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 6.2</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="width: 86px;" valign="top" scope="row">
<p>Arsenic</p>
</th>
<td width="167" valign="top">
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 23&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 35&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 58</p>
</td>
<td width="162" valign="top">
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 7.1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 10&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 18</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="width: 86px; background-color: #c4f2fc;" valign="top" scope="row">
<p>Molybdenum</p>
</th>
<td style="width: 167px; background-color: #c4f2fc;" valign="top">
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1.4&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2.1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 3.2</p>
</td>
<td style="width: 162px; background-color: #c4f2fc;" valign="top">
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 0.75&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1.1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2.4</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<th style="width: 86px;" valign="top" scope="row">
<p>Vanadium</p>
</th>
<td width="167" valign="top">
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 43&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 52&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 57</p>
</td>
<td width="162" valign="top">
<p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 29&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 45&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 59</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>In addition to establishing the baseline in soils and stream sediments around the mine site, USGS scientists are studying the plant and animal life in the area to determine which species to monitor once mining begins.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Biologists are looking at what types of species live here, how many of each species there are, and even what levels of contaminants are already in their tissues,&rdquo; said USGS scientist David Naftz, lead author of the study. &ldquo;When combined with the soil and sediment samples, we&rsquo;ll have a really clear snapshot of what conditions are like here before any uranium ore is extracted.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The results of the study were published this week in the journal <em>Geoderma Regional</em>. More information about the study can be found <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2016-03-03-uranium_baseline_data.html">here</a>. The approach and baseline data are part of a long-term comprehensive study designed by USGS to establish radiological and chemical baselines and environmental pathways of exposure within and surrounding the Canyon Uranium Mine, in northern Arizona prior to ore extraction.</p>
<p>The&nbsp;<a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/">USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program and Environmental Health Mission Area&nbsp;</a>provide objective scientific information on environmental contamination to improve characterization and management of contaminated sites, to protect human and environmental health, and to reduce potential future contamination problems.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/kTbD7BS4ylU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 3 Mar 2016 14:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4466&from=rssPREnvironmentalHealthToxicSubstancesHydrology AlgalBloom
algaltoxins harmfulalgalbloom GeographicAreasSoutheasthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/uL_C4p84KH4/article.asp
stateALstateGAstateNCstateSCstateVAstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> USGS scientists have detected toxins known as microcystins produced by various forms of algae in 39 percent of the small streams assessed throughout the southeastern United States. Their recent study looked at 75 streams in portions of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:kloftin@usgs.gov">Keith&nbsp;Loftin</a>
( Phone: 785-832-3543
);
<a href="mailto:apdemas@usgs.gov">Alex&nbsp;Demas</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4421
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p>USGS scientists have detected toxins known as microcystins produced by various forms of algae in 39 percent of the small streams assessed throughout the southeastern United States. Their recent study looked at 75 streams in portions of Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is the first systematic stream survey of algal toxins in the southeastern United States,&rdquo; said Keith Loftin, the USGS research chemist who led the study. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s important, because it provides a better understanding of the occurrence of these microcystins in aquatic ecosystems with flowing waters.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Microcystins are a well-known public health concern. Public health practitioners and medical researchers have observed a range of symptoms in humans after exposure to microcystins.&nbsp; Symptoms can include nausea, dermatitis and, in severe cases, liver failure.&nbsp; Toxicity issues have been reported for humans, companion animals, livestock and wildlife.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Although the maximum microcystin concentration measured in this study (3.2 &micro;g/L) did not exceed World Health Organization moderate risk thresholds (10 &micro;g/L) in the streams sampled, further research is needed to understand the potential effects on water quality and related environmental health concerns in downstream aquatic ecosystems, lakes and drinking water reservoirs. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Previous research indicated that cyanobacteria, a form of algae capable of producing microcystins, were found in 74 percent of the streams assessed throughout the southeastern United States. However, that research did not include the study of microcystins.</p>
<p>This is the first of several regional assessments of algal toxins, which will provide context for the design of future environmental health studies. These studies will investigate land-use and other factors that may influence or create new environmental pathways of exposures to cyanobacteria and associated toxins.&nbsp; Ongoing work by the USGS in the Pacific Northwest and planned work in the northeastern United States and California will expand our understanding of cyanobacteria and toxins in a wider variety of aquatic ecosystems.&nbsp;</p>
<p>More information about this study can be found <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2016-02-17-algal_toxins_in_streams.html">here</a>. Support for this work was provided by the USGS&rsquo; <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/index.html">Toxic Substances Hydrology Program</a> and the <a href="http://water.usgs.gov/nawqa/">National Water Quality Assessment Program (NAWQA)</a>.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/uL_C4p84KH4" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Feb 2016 11:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4455&from=rssPRWater WaterHydrologicResearchandDevelopment
EcosystemsTerrestrialFreshwaterandMarineEnvironmentshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/NOfbH6fJFQk/article.asp
stateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> Two recent USGS investigations have measured sedimentation rates along the barely perceptible slope of rivers as they empty into estuaries. The findings of these studies have important implications for the restoration of estuaries &mdash; for example, the Chesapeake Bay &mdash; and their resilience in the face of sea level rise.&nbsp;
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<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:gnoe@usgs.gov">Greg&nbsp;Noe</a>
( Phone: 703-648-5826
);
<a href="mailto:joncampbell@usgs.gov">Jon&nbsp;Campbell</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4180
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p>Two recent USGS investigations have measured sedimentation rates along the barely perceptible slope of rivers as they empty into estuaries. The findings of these studies have important implications for the restoration of estuaries &mdash; for example, the Chesapeake Bay &mdash; and their resilience in the face of sea level rise.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The studies compared the sedimentation rates found in upriver tidal freshwater swamps (located at the furthest inland reach of tides) to the rate found in brackish water marshes downstream at the lowest reaches of the rivers.&nbsp;</p>
<table style="width: 350px;" border="0" cellpadding="3" align="right">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="center" valign="top"><a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/02_17_2016_eja4DPo00W_02_17_2016_0"><img src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/images/02_17_2016/eja4DPo00W_02_17_2016/medium/P1010052_-1-.JPG" alt="Tidal Freshwater Swamp at High Tide" width="340" height="255" /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td class="small" valign="top"><span>Areas like this tidal freshwater swamp, along the Pocomoke River in Maryland, provide important ecosystem services including improving water quality by trapping watershed sediment before it reaches the Chesapeake Bay. However, a sediment shadow along tidal rivers may limit their resilience to the impacts of sea level rise. Photo: Scott Ensign, USGS.</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&ldquo;Sediment trapping in tidal freshwater wetlands is critical for protecting the water quality of estuaries and enhancing the resilience of those wetlands to sea level rise,&rdquo; said Scott Phillips, USGS science coordinator for the Chesapeake Bay. &ldquo;These wetlands help reduce nutrients and contaminants from reaching the Bay and also provide critical habitat for waterfowl.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p>A study by <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/2015GL066830/full">Ensign <em>et al</em></a> demonstrated sediment transport bottlenecks in tidal rivers of Maryland. The bottleneck occurs where watershed sediment is trapped by tidal freshwater swamps at the head-of-tide and where estuarine sediment transported upriver by tidal action is trapped by brackish wetlands in the Chesapeake Bay.&nbsp;</p>
<p>This process leaves minimal sediment availability to tidal freshwater wetlands just below the head-of-tide, producing a &ldquo;sediment shadow&rdquo; that reduces the resilience of wetlands to the impacts of sea level rise. The shadow of reduced sediment accumulation also means that Atlantic Coastal Plain watersheds have very little of their watershed sediment delivered to estuaries and the coastal zone.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Research by <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12237-016-0066-4">Noe <em>et al</em></a> found a difference in the basic chemistry of sediment deposited in tidal freshwater swamps compared to brackish wetlands in South Carolina and Georgia, a determination that further supports the conclusion that watershed sediment is trapped out by tidal freshwater wetlands while estuarine sediment is delivered upstream to brackish wetlands.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Moreover, the Noe study found, sediment accumulation rates have changed over time. Historically, even more sediment was trapped by the upriver tidal freshwater wetlands. The change is likely due to greater availability in the past of &ldquo;legacy&rdquo; sediment from post-colonial land use and soil erosion. Modern sediment trapping is greatest overall in downriver brackish wetlands, likely due to sea level rise that has moved the estuarine turbidity maximum upstream.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Together these studies, along with others, show that tidal freshwater wetlands downstream of the head-of-tide have the lowest sediment accumulation rates along river-to-estuarine gradients. Consequently, these areas may have the least resilience to increased rates of sea level rise. In general, sediment trapping helps tidal wetlands increase in elevation to keep pace with rising sea levels. The effect of excessive saltwater exposure on tidal freshwater swamps is easily seen in places where tree death has produced spindly &ldquo;ghost forests&rdquo; that eventually convert into brackish marshes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The sediment shadow also means that little of the watershed sediment and associated nutrient loads in lowland coastal rivers actually reaches estuaries. For example, in the smaller rivers that empty into the Chesapeake Bay (characterized by extensive tidal freshwater wetlands in contrast to minimal tidal freshwater wetlands found in large embayed tributaries), a large portion of the watershed sediment load (and associated phosphorus and nitrogen) is removed by tidal wetlands prior to reaching the bay.&nbsp;</p>
<p>These new insights about the complexity of sediment, carbon, and nutrient transport from watersheds to estuaries can help water quality managers to more accurately forecast the effects of watershed changes on estuarine water quality and improve adaptive management.&nbsp;</p>
<p><strong>Learn more</strong><strong>&nbsp;</strong></p>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://chesapeake.usgs.gov/">USGS Chesapeake Bay Activities</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li><a href="http://water.usgs.gov/nrp/index.php">USGS National Research Program</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/NOfbH6fJFQk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 17 Feb 2016 11:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4456&from=rssPRbudget 2017budget DOI PresidentsBudget financeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/TTjJdWT_RVU/article.asp
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<strong>Summary:</strong> WASHINGTON&mdash;The President&rsquo;s fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request for the U.S. Geological Survey reflects the USGS's vital role in addressing some of the most pressing challenges of the 21st Century by advancing scientific discovery and innovation. The $1.2 billion FY 2017 request supports USGS' ability to maintain the diversity of its scientific expertise so it can continue the large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations it is uniquely qualified to carry out and provide impartial science to resource managers and planners.
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<h3><em>Reflects the ongoing commitment to scientific discovery and innovation to support decision making for critical societal needs</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:dnoseral@usgs.gov">Diane&nbsp;Noserale</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4333
);
<a href="mailto:cpuckett@usgs.gov">Catherine&nbsp;Puckett</a>
( Phone: 352-278-0165
);
<a href="mailto:clodge@usgs.gov">Cynthia&nbsp;Lodge</a>
( Phone: 571-524-2289
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><strong>WASHINGTON&mdash;</strong>The President&rsquo;s fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget request for the U.S. Geological Survey reflects the USGS's vital role in addressing some of the most pressing challenges of the 21<sup>st</sup> Century by advancing scientific discovery and innovation. The $1.2 billion FY 2017 request supports USGS' ability to maintain the diversity of its scientific expertise so it can continue the large-scale, multi-disciplinary investigations it is uniquely qualified to carry out and provide impartial science to resource managers and planners.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is a smart, innovative and forward-looking budget that invests in Interior&rsquo;s key missions &ndash; now and in the future &ndash; so we can continue to serve the American people,&rdquo; said Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. &ldquo;The President&rsquo;s budget provides targeted investments to create economic opportunities by growing our domestic energy portfolio, building climate resilient communities, and revitalizing America&rsquo;s national parks as we mark their 100<sup>th</sup>&nbsp;anniversary. Consistent with the President&rsquo;s abiding commitment to Indian Country, this budget provides critical support for Tribal self-determination and economic advancement, including a historic transformation of the Bureau of Indian Education school system to help improve education for Indian children.&rdquo;</p>
<p>&ldquo;Our diversity of scientific expertise uniquely positions the USGS to help address today's critical natural resource issues,&rdquo; said Suzette Kimball, USGS Director. &ldquo;From earthquakes to invasive species, from water quality to critical minerals, USGS science plays a pivotal role and this budget request supports that important mission."&nbsp;</p>
<p>The FY 2017 budget request allows the USGS to advance priorities set forth in the <a href="http://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2007/1309/">USGS Science Strategy Plans</a>, such as: developing the ground system for Landsat 9; informing the management of water for the 21st century; understanding climate and land-use change; investigating new and emerging invasive species and disease; improving science for rapid disaster response and prevention; developing enhanced mapping tools and products; advancing landscape-level sciences; conducting critical mineral and energy resources research; and pursuing studies that protect environmental health.</p>
<p>This budget is also designed to keep core USGS science programs intact. These programs provide valuable services to the Nation and include science that helps decision makers minimize loss of life and property, manage natural resources, and protect and enhance our quality of life.</p>
<p><em>Key increases in the FY 2017 budget are summarized below.&nbsp;For more detailed information on the President&rsquo;s FY 2017 budget, visit the&nbsp;</em><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/budget/2017"><em>USGS Budget, Planning, and Integration website</em></a><em>.</em></p>
<h3><strong>Water Resources </strong></h3>
<p>The FY 2017 USGS budget request provides an increase of $17.3 million above the FY2016 enacted level for Water Resources research for a total of $228 million. The budget requests $60.2 million for Water Resources programs to use in matching State, municipality, and Tribal contributions for cooperative water efforts. This includes a $4 million increase under the Water Availability and Use Science Program to develop a near real-time assessment of regional and national water-use trends during drought periods. Other increases totaling $8.1 million would integrate water information from multiple agencies, provide state water resource agencies with the necessary base data at the resolution needed for decision making, and would develop better methods for sampling, estimating, aggregating, and presenting water use data. This increase also supports efforts to assess water budgets across snow-dominated regions of the Nation; including assessing systems, anticipating future changes, and extrapolating from monitored to unmonitored locations across critical landscapes in the Arctic.</p>
<p>The USGS budget also includes a $1.4 million increase for the Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program to expand the use of flood inundation mapping and rapidly deployable streamgages, which provide crucial data to help manage flood response. In addition, the increase will also target the use of enhanced streamflow information to help decision makers support tribal water needs.</p>
<p>The National Water Quality Program increase of $3.5 million will enhance long-term surface- and groundwater-quality monitoring in Cycle 3 of the Program. This increase will further support cooperative and urban-waters activities by providing streamflow and water-quality data to state and local partners. The data are used to plan economic revitalization and restore urban waters. Additionally, the NWQP increase funds research to understand the effects of unconventional oil and gas extraction on streams and groundwater.</p>
<h3><strong>Natural Hazards</strong></h3>
<p>The FY 2017 USGS budget request for Natural Hazards includes a $10.7 million increase above the FY 2016 enacted level for a total of $149.7 million. It funds science to help protect the Nation&rsquo;s safety, security, and economic well-being, to make the United States more resilient to natural hazards, and to develop user driven tools to make communities safer.</p>
<p>The Earthquake Hazards Program increase of $1.7 million would fund induced seismicity research related to unconventional oil and gas production and improve earthquake monitoring by assuming long-term operations of about 160 seismographs in the Central and Eastern U.S. An additional $860,000 would fund sensors at select Global Seismographic Network sites. The budget continues funding of $8.2 million to implement a limited earthquake early warning system on the West Coast by expanding seismometer coverage outward around major urban areas, integrating fault slip data into the system, developing and testing the system to improve reliability, and end-user education efforts on how to understand and use alerts.</p>
<p>The Natural Hazards budget increase includes a Coastal and Marine Geology Program increase of $5.8 million, which would benefit coastal communities, including those in the Arctic, dealing with sea-level rise, severe storms, and melting permafrost. The increase would also fund research and modeling to apply findings from Hurricane Sandy to other parts of the U.S. coastline.</p>
<p>An increase of $1.7 million for the <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/faq/taxonomy/term/9782">Geomagnetism Program</a> would enhance USGS monitoring of electrical currents in the Earth&rsquo;s crust, and improve global magnetic field data. This monitoring by USGS is an integral component of the National Space Weather Strategy to protect against the harmful effects of magnetic storms. The Sun is always emitting a wind of electrically charged particles, but when a large sunspot emerges on the face of the Sun, there is an increased chance for abrupt emission of strong solar wind and a magnetic storm. An intense magnetic storm can affect many technological systems. In particular, storms can overload and interfere with the operation of electric-power grids on the Earth, sometimes causing blackouts.</p>
<p>In addition, an increase of $0.5 million in the Landslide Hazards Program would expand post-wildfire debris-flow hazard assessments and bolster the USGS capacity to respond to landslide crises.</p>
<h3><strong>Energy and Minerals Resources, and Environmental Health</strong></h3>
<p><strong></strong>The FY 2017 budget request for Energy and Minerals Resources, and Environmental Health<strong> (</strong>EMEH) is $5 million above the FY 2016 enacted level, for a total of $99.5 million. This includes a $1.6 million increase to the Mineral Resources Program for identifying and evaluating new sources of critical minerals and for new science and tools to reduce the impacts of minerals extraction, production, and recycling on the global environment and human health. The Energy Resources Program&rsquo;s proposed $1.4 million increase includes funds for unconventional oil and gas (UOG) research and assessments, evaluation of waters produced during UOG development, and assessments of undiscovered UOG on Alaska&rsquo;s North Slope. It funds scientific data-gathering needed for other domestic assessments of shale and tight oil and gas, geothermal energy research to support land management decisions about alternative energy permitting on Federal lands, and the application of an <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/pricing-the-priceless-ecosystem-services-science-at-usgs/">ecosystem services</a> approach to enhance resilience of coastal infrastructure and evaluate green infrastructure investments. These increases are partially offset by reductions to lower priority programs.</p>
<p>The increase includes an additional $3.1 million for Environmental Health research, with $1.3 million under the Contaminant Biology Program and $1.8 million under the Toxic Substances Hydrology Program. This research will assess potential biological effects of UOG on living organisms, including humans; study environmental contamination from spills and other releases of liquid and solid wastes from UOG development in West Virginia and North Dakota; and establish real-time water-quality monitoring along the northeast U.S. coast. These studies also will examine mercury and pesticide contamination in the Columbia River basin, and assess impacts of uranium mining in the Grand Canyon region. This research will inform decisions on new uranium mining in the Grand Canyon region.</p>
<h3><strong>Core Science Systems</strong></h3>
<p>The FY 2017 budget request for Core Science Systems is $6.8 million above the FY2016 enacted level, for a total of $118.4 million. Of the increase, $4.9 million would fund elevation data acquisition within the National Geospatial Program. This includes a $1.5 million increase to modernize mapping and collect ifsar (interferometric synthetic aperture radar) elevation data in Alaska. Improved mapping products are urgently needed in Alaska for aircraft navigation, since weather conditions deteriorate quickly and pilots frequently need to fly using only their instruments and GPS. It also includes $2.4 million to acquire lidar data (measuring distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analyzing the reflected light) and enhance landscape-scale 3-D maps for the Nation. Accelerating national elevation data coverage will also enable decision making to manage infrastructure and construction, provide more accurate and cost effective application of chemicals in farming, help to develop energy resources, and support aviation safety and vehicle navigation. The proposed increase also provides $1 million to collect lidar data along the U.S. coast. These data help to understand and mitigate the effects of coastal erosion and storm surge and support management of the Chesapeake Bay. An additional increase of $1 million would complete the National Hydrography Database at a 1:24,000 scale for the conterminous 48 states, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. This achievement would enable full integration of hydrography and elevation data in support of water resource managers throughout the Nation. The overall increase for Core Science Systems also funds research addressing pollinators and drought response.</p>
<h3><strong>Ecosystems</strong></h3>
<p>The FY 2017 USGS budget request for Ecosystems is $13.7 million above the FY 2016 enacted level for a total of $173.9 million. This includes a $4.9 million increase to the Environments Program for critical landscapes such as sage steppe and the Arctic. The increase for sage steppe supports the priority needs of managers to design conservation and management strategies for greater sage grouse; address changing fire regimes, drought and shifting climates; control the spread of invasive cheatgrass; and restore and manage the sage steppe landscape. The Arctic increase would fund research to inform communities and land managers about changes in the Arctic and how they affect the broader physical environment: altering stream flows, disrupting ocean currents and the fisheries that depend on them, changing ecosystems, and affecting the availability of resources. The Environments Program increase also funds research to support drought and wildfire response.</p>
<p>The Ecosystems budget request includes $3.2 million in new funding for the Fisheries Program to develop decision support tools for water ecology, to assess Great Lakes fisheries, and to process offshore samples that could provide an early warning for harmful algal blooms.</p>
<p>The budget increase for Ecosystems includes an additional $2.5 million under the Invasive Species Program for research on new and emerging invasive species of national concern and to develop and improve tools for early detection and control, such as advanced molecular detection of sea lamprey and other invasive species found at very low densities in the field.</p>
<p>The proposed Ecosystems increase also includes a $1.7 million increase through the Status and Trends Program for research to maintain native pollinators that help the Nation maintain its food supplies.</p>
<h3><strong>Climate and Land-Use Change</strong></h3>
<p>The FY 2017 USGS budget provides an increase of $31.5 million over the FY 2016 enacted level for Climate and Land-Use Change (CLU) research, for a total of $171.4 million. This includes a $15.4 million increase to develop the Landsat 9 ground system to accelerate the satellite&rsquo;s launch from 2023 to 2021 and to ensure access to the Nation&rsquo;s remote sensing data. An increase of $2.2 million would enable access to Sentinel-2 satellite data from the European Space Agency, and an increase of $3 million would allow the development of the computing and online storage resources necessary to rapidly produce and widely disseminate a set of Landsat-based information products.</p>
<p>The CLU increase also provides an additional $4.2 million to better understand patterns and manage the effects of drought. This includes new tools to better manage water nationwide such as near real-time satellite based drought monitoring. Drought impacts on natural and agricultural systems that would be assessed include soil moisture, evapotranspiration rates, vegetation response, and other metrics. The research would help water managers identify the onset and severity of drought events and effectively allocate scarce water resources. The increase includes $1.8 million for new tools to improve water management nationwide and use remote sensing to support additional aspects of the National Water Census.</p>
<p>The budget includes a $1.5 million increase to establish a Great Lakes Climate Science Center to help increase and improve focus on the many climate-related natural resource challenges in the Great Lakes region and a $1.4 million increase would fund work with tribes on climate adaptation. In addition, $2.4 million would go to critical landscape studies in the Arctic to develop predictive models of changes to the environment from the conversion of ice and snow to water and to estimate glacier loss in Alaska and potential changes in freshwater input. A $500,000 increase would fund imagery datasets and analytical tools for improved coastal resource management and planning for resilient coastal landscapes and communities.</p>
<p>The proposed USGS budget is part of the President&rsquo;s FY 2017 request of $13.4 billion for the Department of the Interior, reflecting his commitment to meet Federal trust responsibilities to Native Americans, conserve vital national landscapes across the Nation, support the next century of our public lands, and allow for responsible management of energy development on public lands and offshore areas.&nbsp;The Budget in Brief is online: <a href="http://www.doi.gov/budget">www.doi.gov/budget</a> and <a href="http://www.doi.gov/budget/2017/Hilites/toc.html">www.doi.gov/budget/2017/Hilites/toc.html</a>.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/TTjJdWT_RVU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Tue, 9 Feb 2016 14:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4452&from=rssPROSTPPublicAccess PublicAccess USGSPublicAccess
OpenAccess USGSOpenAccess USGSJournalArticles
FederalResearch USGSPublish
CommunicationsandPublishing
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CommunicationsandPublishingInternalandWeb
ScienceQualityandIntegrity
ScienceQualityandIntegrityFundamentalSciencePracticeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/AgTCTvU--LY/article.asp
stateNATstateXN<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> The U.S. Geological Survey is implementing new measures that will improve public access to USGS-funded science as detailed in its new public access plan. The plan enables the USGS to expand&nbsp; its current on-line gateways to provide free public access to scholarly research and supporting data produced in full or in part with USGS funding, no matter how it is published.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:dnoseral@usgs.gov">Diane&nbsp;Noserale</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4333
);
<a href="mailto:kkirk@usgs.gov">Keith&nbsp; Kirk</a>
( Phone: 831-335-4276
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p>The U.S. Geological Survey is implementing new measures that will improve public access to USGS-funded science as detailed in its new <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/quality_integrity/open_access/default.asp">public access plan</a>. The plan enables the USGS to expand&nbsp; its current on-line gateways to provide free public access to scholarly research and supporting data produced in full or in part with USGS funding, no matter how it is published.</p>
<p>The USGS plan &nbsp;&ldquo;<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/quality_integrity/open_access/default.asp"><em>Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research at the U.S. Geological Survey: Scholarly Publications and Digital Data</em></a><em>,</em>&rdquo; stipulates that, beginning October 1, the USGS will require that any research it funds be released from the publisher and&nbsp; available free to the public no later than 12 months after initial publication. The USGS will also require that data used to support the findings be available free to the public when the associated study is published.</p>
<p>The plan applies to research papers and data authored or co-authored by USGS, contract employees, award or grant recipients, partners and other entities. It includes materials published by any non-USGS entity, including scientific journals, professional society volumes, cooperating agency series, and university or commercial publishers.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/quality_integrity/open_access/default.asp"><img style="float: right; margin: 5px;" src="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2016-02-08/publicaccess-cover.jpg" alt="Cover of publication for Public Access to Results of Federally Funded Research at the U.S. Geological Survey: Scholarly Publications and Digital Data" width="300" height="385" /></a>Exceptions are permitted only if the USGS agrees that a demonstrated circumstance restricts the data from public release, for example in rare cases where access must be restricted because of security, privacy, confidentiality, or other constraints.</p>
<p>The plan responds to a February 2013 Office of Science and Technology Policy memorandum that directed federal agencies with annual research and development budgets above $100 million to increase public access to peer-reviewed scientific publications and digital data resulting from federally funded research. On January 8, OSTP approved the USGS plan.</p>
<p>Specifically, this plan requires that an electronic copy of either the accepted manuscript or the final publication of record is available through the <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/">USGS Publications Warehouse</a>. Digital data will be available in machine readable form from the <a href="http://data.usgs.gov/">USGS Science Data Catalog</a>. The plan will require the inclusion of data management plans in all new research proposals and grants.</p>
<p>Much of the plan refers to requirements or activities that already exist or are being implemented. The mandate to publish data and findings from USGS science activities dates to the Bureau's creation by the signing of the Sundry Civil Bill on March 3, 1879, establishing the USGS. This bill also defined the requirement to report the results of investigations by the USGS to the public. &nbsp;</p>
<p>The results of USGS research, generally released in the form of publications, maps, data, and models, are used by policymakers at all levels of government and by the private sector to support appropriate decisions about how to respond to natural hazards, manage natural resources, and to spur innovation and economic growth.</p>
<p>This plan builds on existing USGS policy, which requires public access be provided for any scholarly publications and associated data that arise from research conducted directly by USGS or by others using USGS funding, is published by the USGS or externally by USGS scientists or USGS funded scientists. This existing policy requires that data must be made available at the time of publication to support scholarly conclusions.</p>
<p>USGS already has the portals it needs to implement public access. USGS scholarly publications and associated data are discoverable online. Currently, citations for the more than 50,000 USGS series publications are available, and 10,000 of these are also available free to the public as downloadable digital files. In addition, more than 41,000 scholarly publications authored by the USGS but published externally are cataloged in the Publications Warehouse, and links to original published sources are provided.&nbsp;</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=AgTCTvU--LY:HiRexQs_BzE:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=AgTCTvU--LY:HiRexQs_BzE:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=AgTCTvU--LY:HiRexQs_BzE:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?i=AgTCTvU--LY:HiRexQs_BzE:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/AgTCTvU--LY" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Mon, 8 Feb 2016 6:43:09 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4449&from=rssPREnvironmentalHealth ToxicSubstancesHydrologyProgram
Mercury Emissions CoaEnvironmentalHealthhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/twsg8bsMakE/article.asp
stateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> Between 1990 and 2010, global mercury emissions from manmade sources declined 30 percent, according to a new analysis by Harvard University, Peking University, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and the University of Alberta. These results challenge long-standing assumptions about mercury emission trends.
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Results show local and regional efforts can have significant effects on atmospheric mercury</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:dpkrabbe@usgs.gov">David &nbsp;Krabbenhoft</a>
( Phone: 608-821-3843
);
<a href="mailto:apdemas@usgs.gov">Alex&nbsp;Demas</a>
( Phone: 571-335-6535
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p>Between 1990 and 2010, global mercury emissions from manmade sources declined 30 percent, according to a new analysis by Harvard University, Peking University, the U.S. Geological Survey, the Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, and the University of Alberta. These results challenge long-standing assumptions about mercury emission trends.</p>
<p>Mercury is a metallic element that poses environmental health risks to both wildlife and humans when converted to methylmercury in ecosystems.&nbsp; It can be converted into gaseous emissions during various industrial activities, as well as natural processes like volcanic eruptions.</p>
<p>&ldquo;For years, mercury researchers have been unable to explain the apparent conundrum between declining air concentrations and rising emission estimates,&rdquo; said lead author Yanxu Zhang from Harvard University. &ldquo;Our work is the first detailed, mechanistic analysis to explain the declining atmospheric mercury trend.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The observed reduction in atmospheric mercury was most pronounced over North America and Europe, where several factors have contributed to the observed declines in atmospheric mercury concentrations:&nbsp;</p>
<ol>
<li>Mercury has been gradually phased out of many commercial products.</li>
<li>Controls were put in place on coal-fired power plants that removed naturally occurring mercury from the coal being burned.</li>
<li>Many power plants have switched to natural gas and stopped burning coal entirely, further reducing mercury emissions.</li>
</ol>
<p>Finally, at the same time, efforts to combat acid rain resulted in controls being put in place on power plants to reduce nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide emissions. This had the unintended benefit of also reducing mercury emissions.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Previously, most mercury researchers subscribed to the notion that the &lsquo;global mercury&rsquo; problem was largely manifested by a shared global emission inventory,&rdquo; said USGS scientist David Krabbenhoft, one of the study&rsquo;s co-authors. &ldquo;However, our research shows that local and regional efforts to reduce mercury emissions matter significantly. This is great news for focused efforts on reducing exposure of fish, wildlife and humans to toxic mercury.&rdquo;</p>
<p>The larger-than-anticipated role of local and regional efforts on global mercury emissions explains how increases in emissions in one area can be offset by decreases in other areas. Thus, while Asian mercury emissions increased between 1990 and 2010, European and North American emission reductions during the same time were enough to more than offset the Asian increases.</p>
<p>&ldquo;This is important for policy and decision-makers, as well as natural resource managers, because, as our results show, their actions can have tangible effects on mercury emissions, even at the local level,&rdquo; said study co-author Vincent St. Louis with the University of Alberta.</p>
<p>The study is entitled &ldquo;Observed decrease in atmospheric mercury explained by global decline in anthropogenic emissions,&rdquo; and is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Read <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2016-01-13-global_mercury_decline.html">more information about the study</a>.</p>
<p>The&nbsp;<a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/">USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program</a>&nbsp;provides objective scientific information on environmental contamination to improve characterization and management of contaminated sites, to protect human and environmental health, and to reduce potential future contamination problems. As part of that research, USGS provides <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/mercury/">information on mercury sources</a>; mercury cycling in the atmosphere, land surface, lakes, streams and oceans; and bioaccumulation and toxicity of mercury. This information helps land and resource managers understand and reduce mercury hazards to people and wildlife.</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=twsg8bsMakE:2VGLWHw2y98:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=twsg8bsMakE:2VGLWHw2y98:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=twsg8bsMakE:2VGLWHw2y98:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?i=twsg8bsMakE:2VGLWHw2y98:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/twsg8bsMakE" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 13 Jan 2016 10:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4434&from=rssTAWater WaterQuality Nowcast AlgalBloom algaltoxins Ohio OhioWaterScienceCenter HumanHealth publichealth beachhealth GeographicAreasMidwesthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/kRhy0VtYrKI/article.asp
stateOH<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->Rapid predictions of harmful algal blooms, or large growths of toxin-producing bacteria in water, can help prevent recreationalists from getting sick at Ohio lakes, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:dsfrancy@usgs.gov">Donna&nbsp;Francy</a>
( Phone: 614-430-7769
);
<a href="mailto:mlubeck@usgs.gov">Marisa&nbsp;Lubeck</a>
( Phone: 303-202-4765
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p><!--introstart-->Rapid predictions of harmful algal blooms, or large growths of toxin-producing bacteria in water, can help prevent recreationalists from getting sick at Ohio lakes, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey <a href="http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20155120">report</a>.<!--introend--></p>
<p>Scientists with the USGS and partners made real-time water-quality and environmental measurements at <a href="http://oh.water.usgs.gov/micro2/images/Map_Showing_Sites_full.jpg">seven recreational areas</a> in Ohio during 2013&#8210;2014. Their goal was to identify factors that could be used in models to quickly predict microcystin levels and provide advisories to swimmers and boaters. Microcystin is the most commonly detected toxin found in freshwater algal blooms. Models are used successfully at Lake Erie beaches as part of the <a href="http://www.ohionowcast.info/">Ohio Nowcast</a> for predicting <em>E. coli</em> concentrations, but have not been tested for algal bloom predictions.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Algal bloom toxins in water are currently measured in the laboratory, and results take time,&rdquo; said Donna Francy, the lead USGS scientist for the study. &ldquo;Utilizing nowcasts to determine when and where a bloom may occur in real-time can better protect people like swimmers and boaters that use and consume water resources.&rdquo;</p>
<p>These toxic blooms, which sometimes turn water a green or a blue-green color, can be irritating to skin and may affect the human liver and nervous system if consumed. The bacteria that cause algal blooms are cyanobacteria. A cyanobacterial harmful algal bloom, or cyanoHAB, occurs when water conditions like excess nutrients, sunlight, warm temperatures and water levels favor growth of toxin-producing cyanobacteria over other aquatic organisms.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The scientists collected data and analyzed the results to determine that cyanoHAB nowcasts are feasible in Ohio. Study sites included Ohio State Park beaches at Buckeye Lake, Buck Creek, Deer Creek, East Fork Lake and Maumee Bay State Park; a boater/swim area at Buckeye Lake; and two locally operated beaches in Port Clinton and Bay View.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;The Ohio Nowcast system for <em>E. coli</em>, operating since 2006, is similar to a weather forecast except that current water-quality conditions instead of future conditions are estimated,&rdquo; said Francy. &ldquo;Since a nowcast has worked for <em>E. coli</em>, we decided to try to develop one for cyanoHABs and their associated toxins.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>The scientists collected weekly to monthly data for two recreational seasons and identified factors that could be used to predict microcystin concentrations at a variety of freshwater sites. Measurements of a pigment called phycocyanin, water clarity, water pH, streamflow from a nearby river and lake level changes over 24 hours were among the best factors to estimate microcystin levels in real-time. Future studies will focus on collecting more frequent data to develop site-specific models to use in cyanoHAB nowcasts.&nbsp;</p>
<p>A full list of cooperators on the Ohio cyanoHAB nowcast project is available in the USGS <a href="http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/sir20155120">report</a>.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For more information on water-quality research in Ohio, visit the <a href="http://oh.water.usgs.gov/">USGS Ohio Water Science Center website</a>.</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=kRhy0VtYrKI:mEvhuUL7H0k:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=kRhy0VtYrKI:mEvhuUL7H0k:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=kRhy0VtYrKI:mEvhuUL7H0k:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?i=kRhy0VtYrKI:mEvhuUL7H0k:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/kRhy0VtYrKI" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 10 Dec 2015 12:30:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4409&from=rssPREnvironmentalHealthToxicSubstancesHydrology Mercury methylmercury GreatLakeshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/WkMM4mc9G8I/article.asp
stateILstateINstateMIstateMNstateNYstateOHstateWIstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->For the first time, land and resource managers in the Great Lakes will be able to distinguish between the various sources of mercury in the environment, a toxic chemical of significant concern in the region
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:dpkrabbe@usgs.gov ">David &nbsp;Krabbenhoft</a>
( Phone: 608-821-3843
);
<a href="mailto:apdemas@usgs.gov">Alex&nbsp;Demas</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4421
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br> <p><!--introstart-->For the first time, land and resource managers in the Great Lakes will be able to distinguish between the various sources of mercury in the environment, a toxic chemical of significant concern in the region.<!--introend--> This is thanks to a new tool that &ldquo;fingerprints&rdquo; the mercury, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.&nbsp;</p>
<p>For Lakes Superior and Huron, atmospheric mercury is the dominant form, while in Lakes Erie and Ontario, most mercury comes from industrial activity or runoff from the watersheds of the lakes. Lake Michigan is dominated in some areas by atmospheric mercury, in other areas by industrial activity and in still others by watershed contributions.</p>
<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="600" align="center">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_12_10/great_lakes_mercury_source_map.jpg"><img src="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_12_10/great_lakes_mercury_source_map_tn.jpg" alt="A map showing the relative concentrations of mercury sources as identified by the fingerprinting tool." /></a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><span class="small">A map showing the relative concentrations of mercury sources as identified by the fingerprinting tool. (<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_12_10/great_lakes_mercury_source_map.jpg">High resolution image</a>)</span></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>&ldquo;I&rsquo;ve been involved in mercury research for nearly 28 years,&rdquo; said USGS scientist Dave Krabbenhoft, the project chief. &ldquo;Back in the 1980&rsquo;s, when I first got into this area of research, I dreamed of a tool that could provide geochemical markers of mercury sources.&nbsp; That dream has now become reality.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Determining where the mercury comes from is important, because it informs decisions designed to minimize it.&nbsp; For example, minimizing industrial sources of mercury alone will not be effective if the majority of mercury entering the Great Lakes is from atmospheric mercury.</p>
<p>&ldquo;One of the surprising things we saw was just how much of the mercury building up in fish was due to atmospheric mercury,&rdquo; said Krabbenhoft. &ldquo;This shows that atmospheric mercury needs to be emphasized, even when the sediments in the Lakes show relatively little atmospheric mercury accumulation.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Although this fingerprinting tool was pioneered for the Great Lakes, it can be applied elsewhere. A very common situation across the United States and elsewhere is the presence of large amounts of mercury that was released during industrialization, so-called legacy mercury. At these sites, resource managers often lack a tool to help them understand whether it is legacy or other sources that substantively contribute to exposures in fish, wildlife and humans today.</p>
<p>&ldquo;We are very excited to explore the capability of this new tool to inform resource managers and decision makers responsible for managing these challenging situations,&rdquo; said Krabbenhoft.</p>
<p>Mercury is a naturally occurring element that can have toxic effects on people&rsquo;s brains, kidneys and lungs. In certain environments, it can also bind with carbon and hydrogen to become methylmercury, which is far more toxic than elemental mercury. In addition, methylmercury can build up in the tissues of fish and other aquatic organisms, resulting in higher doses when people or other animals eat them.</p>
<p>More information about this new tool can be found <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2015-12-09-mercury_tool.html">online</a>. USGS provides information on mercury sources; mercury cycling in the atmosphere, land surface, lakes, streams and oceans; and bioaccumulation and toxicity of mercury. This information helps land and resource managers understand and reduce mercury hazards to people and wildlife.</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=WkMM4mc9G8I:uJLRBh5He7o:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=WkMM4mc9G8I:uJLRBh5He7o:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=WkMM4mc9G8I:uJLRBh5He7o:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?i=WkMM4mc9G8I:uJLRBh5He7o:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/WkMM4mc9G8I" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 10 Dec 2015 10:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4408&from=rssTAEnvironmentalHealthToxicSubstancesHydrology FishHealth pharmaceuticals intersexFishhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/0pGb5BZ_AZk/article.asp
stateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->Fish health may be affected by pharmaceuticals in treated wastewater released into streams and other water bodies, according to a recent laboratory and field study by the Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory at St. Cloud State University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Results Show Impacts to both Juveniles and Adults</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:hschoenfuss@stcloudstate.edu ">Heiko &nbsp;Schoenfuss, SCSU</a>
( Phone: 320-308-3130
);
<a href="mailto:dwkolpin@usgs.gov ">Dana &nbsp;Kolpin, USGS</a>
( Phone: 319-358-3614
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p><!--introstart-->Fish health may be affected by pharmaceuticals in treated wastewater released into streams and other water bodies, according to a recent laboratory and field study by the Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory at St. Cloud State University and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).<!--introend--> This research is published in a special edition of <em>Environmental Toxicology &amp; Chemistry </em>related to pharmaceuticals in the environment.</p>
<p>This study looked for effects from nine individual pharmaceuticals, as well as varying mixtures of these chemicals, on both juvenile and adult fathead minnows. The selected pharmaceuticals and corresponding exposure levels for the laboratory experiments were guided by <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/PMFs.html">previous USGS research</a>.</p>
<p>&rdquo;Exploring the effects of multiple pharmaceuticals in mixtures at concentrations previous measured in the environment provided for immediate relevance of the study,&rdquo; said St. Cloud State University scientist Heiko Schoenfuss, the lead author of the study. &ldquo;The pharmaceuticals studied are highly prescribed and have been found in the environment in previous studies, including by our USGS co-authors.&rdquo;</p>
<p>Prior USGS research has also documented the release of pharmaceuticals is greater in areas where local sources of pharmaceuticals, such as medicinal manufacturers, may contribute a disproportionately larger amount of pharmaceuticals to wastewater treatment plants. In addition, one of the wastewater treatment plants receiving waste from pharmaceutical manufacturing was also used for the field component of this research.</p>
<p>Fathead minnows were used as they are a common laboratory model for studies of this kind and are also an ecologically important species that can be found throughout North America. The minnows were exposed to both individual pharmaceuticals and mixtures of these chemicals in a laboratory setting as well as to treated wastewater at a wastewater treatment plant to represent a real world setting.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Including the field exposures was an important part of this study,&rdquo; said USGS scientist Dana Kolpin, one of the study&rsquo;s co-authors. &ldquo;Our research documented that effects observed in the field are not always easily reconciled by laboratory studies because of the full complexity of real-world conditions. Because of this, it&rsquo;s crucial to include a wide variety of conditions and organism life stages when assessing the effects of pharmaceuticals on aquatic ecosystem health.&rdquo;</p>
<p>A comprehensive suite of symptoms of adverse health effects across minnow life stages were assessed for this study. Juvenile fathead minnows exposed to the pharmaceuticals suffered from reduced growth and altered escape behavior. This means that, when faced with a threat, the minnows did not escape as efficiently as they normally would, potentially increasing the chances they would be eaten and that could ultimately translate to population level effects.</p>
<p>Interestingly, adult females and males were found to react differently to pharmaceutical exposures. Adult females generally experienced an increase in relative liver size compared to control females, suggesting that the liver is reacting to the influx of pharmaceuticals.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, adult males exposed to the pharmaceuticals had a variety of reactions. Most did not defend their nests as rigorously as those that were not exposed to the pharmaceuticals. The males exposed to wastewater treatment plant effluent in the field component of this research ended up producing a chemical known as <em>plasma vitellogenin</em>, a protein associated with egg production in females and is an indicator of feminization of male fish.</p>
<p>The following pharmaceutical chemicals were studied:</p>
<ol>
<li>Hydrocodone: an opioid pain reliever</li>
<li>Methadone: an opioid pain reliever</li>
<li>Oxycodone: an opioid pain reliever</li>
<li>Tramadol: an opioid agonist pain reliever</li>
<li>Methocarbamol: a muscle relaxant</li>
<li>Fluoxetine: an antidepressant</li>
<li>Paroxetine: an antidepressant</li>
<li>Venlafaxine: an antidepressant</li>
<li>Temazepam: a sleep aid</li>
</ol>
<p>The paper describing the results of this study in detail can be found in <em>Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry</em>, and is part of a long-term effort to understand the fate and effects of contaminants of emerging concern and to provide water-resource managers with objective information that assists in the development of effective water management practices.</p>
<p>To learn more about the study, please see our&nbsp;<a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2015-11-13-pharmacuticals_and_minnows.html">science feature</a>. To learn more about USGS environmental health science, please visit the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/envirohealth/" target="_blank">USGS Environmental Health website</a>&nbsp;and sign up for our&nbsp;<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/envirohealth/geohealth/index.html" target="_blank">GeoHealth Newsletter</a>.</p><div class="feedflare">
<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=0pGb5BZ_AZk:YnHfbMBQUvY:yIl2AUoC8zA"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=yIl2AUoC8zA" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=0pGb5BZ_AZk:YnHfbMBQUvY:qj6IDK7rITs"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?d=qj6IDK7rITs" border="0"></img></a> <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?a=0pGb5BZ_AZk:YnHfbMBQUvY:gIN9vFwOqvQ"><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth?i=0pGb5BZ_AZk:YnHfbMBQUvY:gIN9vFwOqvQ" border="0"></img></a>
</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/0pGb5BZ_AZk" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Fri, 13 Nov 2015 12:29:53 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4389&from=rssTAToxics Water WaterQuality Landfills Leachate LiquidWaste EnvironmentalToxicologyandChemistryhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/R60M1wvm7dU/article.asp
<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->New research from the U.S. Geological Survey details that even after the storage and/or treatment of leachate &ndash; liquid waste that moves through or drains from a landfill &minus; it can still contain a multitude of chemicals and reflects the diverse nature of residential, industrial, and commercial waste discarded into landfills in the United States
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:hkoontz@usgs.gov">Heidi&nbsp;Koontz</a>
( Phone: 303-202-4763
);
<a href="mailto:dwkolpin@usgs.gov">Dana&nbsp;Kolpin</a>
( Phone: 319-358-3614
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
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<p>Examples of treated and stored liquid waste samples collected for this study. An onsite landfill leachate storage lagoon. (<a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/11_12_2015_dHXj0NM007_11_12_2015_0">high resolution image</a>)</p>
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<p>Manhole access as leachate leaves a landfill and enters a sewer that pipes leachate to a wastewater treatment plant. (<a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/11_12_2015_dHXj0NM007_11_12_2015_1">high resolution image</a>)</p>
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<p><!--introstart-->New research from the U.S. Geological Survey details that even after the storage and/or treatment of leachate &ndash; liquid waste that moves through or drains from a landfill &minus; it can still contain a multitude of chemicals and reflects the diverse nature of residential, industrial, and commercial waste discarded into landfills in the United States.<!--introend--></p>
<p>The paper, authored by USGS scientist Jason Masoner and colleagues, appears in the latest edition of <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/%28ISSN%291552-8618/earlyview">Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry</a> and confirms what goes into landfills via human disposal isn&rsquo;t necessarily trash&rsquo;s final resting place.</p>
<p>This national-scale study collected and analyzed treated and stored liquid waste samples from 22 landfills across the United States looking for 190 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) including pharmaceuticals, hormones, household products, and industrial chemicals and follows a <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2014-08-12-leachate_pharm.html">previously published USGS landfill study</a> that assessed leachate prior to any storage and/or treatment (i.e. untreated liquid waste).</p>
<p>"The importance of moving our landfill research from examining untreated liquid waste to treated and stored liquid waste is that the treated product provides a much better understanding of chemical concentrations that are actually being put into the environment by landfills," said Masoner. "Such input pathways include discharge to streams, seepage into groundwater, diversion to wastewater treatment plants, and even onsite spraying or irrigation."</p>
<p>Treated and stored liquid waste samples contained 101 of the 190 CECs analyzed for this study, with such CECs being found in every leachate sample collected with as many as 58 chemicals detected in a single sample. Observed concentrations ranged from as low as 2 parts per trillion (ng/L) for estrone (natural hormone) to as high as 17,200,000 ng/L for bisphenol A (chemical with a wide variety of uses such as in plastics and thermal paper).</p>
<p>A detailed comparison of CEC concentrations between landfills that were included in both USGS studies (i.e. untreated liquid waste versus treated and stored liquid waste) found that levels of CECs were significantly less in treated and stored liquid waste compared to untreated liquid waste samples. Nevertheless, treated and stored liquid waste still contained a complex mixture of CECs with the largest levels exceeding 1,000,000 ng/L.</p>
<p>"This research is the first step in understanding environmental exposures to contaminants originating from liquid wastes in landfills," said Mike Focazio, coordinator for the USGS Toxics Substances Hydrology Program.</p>
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<td><a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_11_12/Map.jpg"><img src="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_11_12/Map_tn.jpg" alt="Map showing states where final leachate was sampled from 22 landfills in 2011 and 2012." /></a></td>
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<td><span class="small">Map showing states where final leachate was sampled from 22 landfills in 2011 and 2012.&nbsp; (<a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_11_12/Map.jpg">high resolution image</a>)</span></td>
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/R60M1wvm7dU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 12 Nov 2015 18:17:51 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4387&from=rssPRWaterHydrologicResearchandDevelopment EnvironmentalHealthToxicSubstancesHydrologyhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/4bFiFcJjp4c/article.asp
stateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->USGS scientists have conducted the first-ever field measurements of anammox activity in groundwater, demonstrating that nitrogen removal from groundwater can occur through the action of naturally occurring bacteria
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<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:rlsmith@usgs.gov">Richard&nbsp;Smith</a>
( Phone: 303-541-3032
);
<a href="mailto:joncampbell@usgs.gov">Jon&nbsp;Campbell</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4180
);
</p>
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<td><a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/11_04_2015_hLCo26Rfe8_11_04_2015_0"><img src="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/images/2015_11_05/wastewater_disposal_beds.jpg" alt="An aerial view looking southeast of the treated-wastewater infiltration beds at Joint Base Cape Cod. The wastewater disposal beds (source of the nitrogen contamination) appear in the foreground. In the background is a freshwater pond that is receiving discharge of some of the groundwater contaminants. Toxic waste disposal at the site ended in 1995." /></a></td>
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<td><span class="small">An aerial view looking southeast of the treated-wastewater infiltration beds at Joint Base Cape Cod. The wastewater disposal beds (source of the nitrogen contamination) appear in the foreground. In the background is a freshwater pond that is receiving discharge of some of the groundwater contaminants. Toxic waste disposal at the site ended in 1995. (<a href="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photos/11_04_2015_hLCo26Rfe8_11_04_2015_0">High resolution image</a>)</span></td>
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<p class="Body"><!--introstart-->USGS scientists have conducted the first-ever field measurements of anammox activity in groundwater, demonstrating that nitrogen removal from groundwater can occur through the action of naturally occurring bacteria.<!--introend--> This research was conducted in collaboration with partners from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science and the University of Connecticut.</p>
<p class="Body">Anammox, shorthand for anaerobic ammonium oxidation, is a process carried out by naturally occurring bacteria that can simultaneously remove ammonium and reduce nitrogen oxides (such as nitrate and nitrite), combining the two to produce harmless nitrogen gas.</p>
<p class="Body">Over the past 100 years, humans have drastically altered the global nitrogen budget by fixing nitrogen gas from air to produce fertilizer in the form of ammonium and nitrate.&nbsp; Nitrate and ammonium are now prevalent fixed nitrogen contaminants that may be found in surface water and groundwater worldwide. Until fixed nitrogen is converted back to nitrogen gas, it remains as a potential water contaminant. &nbsp;Anammox and denitrification are the only two processes that can remove excess fixed nitrogen by chemically changing it back to nitrogen gas.</p>
<p class="Body">&ldquo;Virtually all terrestrial and aquatic environments now contain extra fixed nitrogen from human activities, including groundwater, the planet&rsquo;s primary freshwater resource,&rdquo; said Richard Smith, a USGS research hydrologist and lead author of the investigation.</p>
<p class="Body">Discovered just 20 years ago in wastewater treatment systems, anammox has been studied since then in laboratory settings using enrichment cultures. &nbsp;Relatively recently, anammox was found to be ecologically important in marine and other surface water environments.</p>
<p class="Body">&ldquo;Because anammox is a process that can supply its own organic carbon by fixing carbon dioxide,&rdquo; Smith continued, &ldquo;naturally occurring anammox bacteria are ideally suited for life in groundwater, where they could potentially be important for fixed nitrogen removal.&nbsp; While practical applications are still in the distant future, this process could be particularly important where groundwater is discharging to surface waters and coastal environments.&rdquo;&nbsp;</p>
<p class="Body">Working at a carefully monitored USGS groundwater study site at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, the research team found that anammox was active in the subsurface in a variety of geochemical conditions, even where groundwater ammonium concentrations were low.&nbsp; The rates of activity were relatively low, but anammox could potentially affect inorganic nitrogen concentrations in situations where groundwater residence times are sufficiently long.</p>
<p class="Body">The detailed findings of the investigation were <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/ipdf/10.1021/acs.est.5b02488">recently published</a> in the journal <em>Environmental Science and Technology</em>. &nbsp;</p>
<p class="Body">The paper documents the competition between anammox and denitrification for nitrogen oxides and explores the effect of altered organic carbon concentrations on that competition. The results of this study indicate that anammox does occur in groundwater, that it can be an important mechanism for fixed nitrogen removal, and that it should be included when interpreting subsurface geochemistry and constructing groundwater nitrogen budgets.&nbsp;</p>
<p class="Body">Co-authors on the study include USGS scientist J.K. B&ouml;hlke; Bongkeun Song from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science; and Craig Tobias from the University of Connecticut, Department of Marine Science. The National Science Foundation provided additional research support.</p>
<p class="Body"><strong>Learn more</strong></p>
<p class="Body"><a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/ipdf/10.1021/acs.est.5b02488">Research article,</a> <em>Environmental Science and Technology<br /></em><a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/">USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program<br /></a><a href="http://ma.water.usgs.gov/MMRCape/">USGS Cape Cod Toxic Substances Hydrology Research Site<br /></a><a href="http://water.usgs.gov/nrp/index.php">USGS National Research Program</a></p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/4bFiFcJjp4c" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 5 Nov 2015 13:40:02 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4382&from=rssPREnvironmentalHealth EnvironmentalHealthToxicSubstancesHydrology pesticides NativeBees Pollinators PollinatorStrategy Neonicotinoidshttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/9Daamt5qPNU/article.asp
stateCOstateNAT<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->According to the first-ever study of pesticide residues on field-caught bees, native bees are exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides and other pesticides
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<!--summaryend-->
<p><strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:mhladik@usgs.gov">Michelle &nbsp;Hladik</a>
( Phone: 916-278-3183
);
<a href="mailto:mfocazio@usgs.gov">Mike&nbsp;Focazio</a>
( Phone: 703-648-6808
);
<a href="mailto:apdemas@usgs.gov">Alex&nbsp;Demas</a>
( Phone: 703-648-4421
);
</p>
<br>
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<br> <p><!--introstart-->According to the first-ever study of pesticide residues on field-caught bees, native bees are exposed to neonicotinoid insecticides and other pesticides.<!--introend--> This report was conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey and published in the journal Science of the Total Environment.</p>
<p>This research focused on native bees, because there is limited information on their exposure to pesticides. In fact, little is known about how toxic these pesticides are to native bee species at the levels detected in the environment. This study did not look at pesticide exposure to honey bees.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We found that the presence and proximity of nearby agricultural fields was an&nbsp;important factor resulting in the exposure of native bees to pesticides,&rdquo; said USGS scientist Michelle Hladik, the report&rsquo;s lead author. &ldquo;Pesticides were detected in the bees caught in grasslands with no known direct pesticide applications.&rdquo;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Although conservation efforts have been shown by other investigators to benefit pollinators, this study raises questions about the potential for unintended pesticide exposures where various land uses overlap or are in proximity to one another.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The research consisted of collecting native bees from cultivated agricultural fields and grasslands in northeastern Colorado, then processing the composite bee samples to test for 122 different pesticides, as well as 14 chemicals formed by the breakdown of pesticides. Scientists tested for the presence of pesticides both in and on the bees.&nbsp;</p>
<p>The most common pesticide detected was the neonicotinoid insecticide thiamethoxam, which was found in 46 percent of the composite bee samples. Thiamethoxam is used as a seed coating on a variety of different crops. Pesticides were not found in all bee samples, with 15 of the 54 total samples testing negative for the 122 chemicals examined.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>Although this study did not investigate the effects of pesticide exposures to native bees, previous toxicological studies have shown that the chemicals do not have to kill the bees to have an adverse effect at the levels of exposure documented here. <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v521/n7550/full/nature14420.html#affil-auth">For example</a>, neonicotinoids can cause a reduction in population densities and reproductive success, and impair the bees&rsquo; ability to forage.&nbsp; Follow-up research is now being designed to further investigate adverse effects at these exposure levels.&nbsp;</p>
<p>There are about 4,000 native species of bees in the United States. They pollinate native plants like cherries, blueberries and cranberries, and were here long before European honeybees were brought to the country by settlers.&nbsp;&nbsp;In addition, many native bees are quite efficient crop pollinators, a role that may become more crucially important if honey bees continue to decline.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
<p>This paper is a preliminary, field-based reconnaissance study that provides critical information necessary to design more focused research on exposure, uptake and accumulation of pesticides relative to land-use, agricultural practices and pollinator conservation efforts on the landscape. <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4300#.ViUREBG6e70">Another USGS study</a> published in August discovered neonicotinoids in&nbsp;in a little more than half of both urban and agricultural streams sampled across the United States and Puerto Rico.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;This foundational study is needed to prioritize and design new environmental exposure experiments on the potential for adverse impacts to terrestrial organisms,&rdquo; said Mike Focazio, program coordinator for the USGS Toxic Substances Hydrology Program. &ldquo;This and other USGS research is helping support the overall goals of the White House <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2015/05/19/announcing-new-steps-promote-pollinator-health">Strategy to Promote the Health of Honey Bees and Other Pollinators</a> by helping us understand whether these pesticides, particularly at low levels, pose a risk for pollinators.&rdquo;</p>
<p>More information can be found on this paper <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/highlights/2015-11-04-pesticides_bees.html">here</a>. USGS research on the occurrence, transport and fate of pesticides can be found with the USGS Toxic Substance Hydrology Program <a href="http://toxics.usgs.gov/regional/pesticides">webpage</a> or the <a href="http://ca.water.usgs.gov/projects/PFRG/">USGS Pesticide Fate Research project</a> in California. Stay up to date with USGS Environmental Health science by signing up for our <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/envirohealth/geohealth/">GeoHealth Newsletter</a>.</p>
<p><iframe frameborder="0" height="400" width="600" id="gallery_news" name="NR2015_11_04" scrolling="auto" src="http://gallery.usgs.gov/photo_shares/thumbs/tags/NR2015_11_04/1" title="Image Gallery"></iframe></p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/9Daamt5qPNU" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Wed, 4 Nov 2015 11:30:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4381&from=rssPRSiliconValley JointVenture JVSV Innovation MOU agreement collaboration technology science earthquake SeaLevel climate drought partner environmenthttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~3/TdZM6CVG0Rw/article.asp
stateCA<!--summarystart-->
<strong>Summary:</strong> <!--introstart-->Joint Venture Silicon Valley and the U.S. Geological Survey today jointly announced a partnership to address regional challenges from natural hazards, climate and land use change, and continued availability of clean air and water resources
<hr size="1">
<!--summaryend-->
<h3><em>Partnership to Tackle Earth and Atmosphere Challenges to Silicon Valley</em></h3>
<p>
<strong>Contact Information:</strong></p>
<p>
<a href="mailto:lgordon@usgs.gov">Leslie&nbsp; Gordon</a>
( Phone: 650-329-4006
);
<a href="mailto:jennings@jointventure.org">Duffy&nbsp;Jennings</a>
( Phone: 408-896-6900
);
</p>
<br>
<hr size="1">
<br><p>MENLO PARK, Calif. &mdash; <!--introstart--><a href="http://www.jointventure.org/">Joint Venture Silicon Valley</a> and the <a href="http://www.usgs.gov/">U.S. Geological Survey</a> today jointly announced a partnership to address regional challenges from natural hazards, climate and land use change, and continued availability of clean air and water resources.<!--introend--></p>
<p>"The region will benefit greatly from this opportunity to leverage our respective strengths and resources to confront such earth and atmospheric threats to Silicon Valley as earthquakes, sea level rise, greenhouse gas emissions and drought," said Russell Hancock, president and CEO of Joint Venture.</p>
<p>Both organizations are identifying science needs to craft effective resilience and adaptation strategies to these challenges. They are now partnering on exploring how Silicon Valley can survive and recover from future hazards, like strong motion from regional earthquakes.&nbsp; JVSV and USGS will use this partnership to conduct conferences, projects and private sector outreach to address foreseeable natural science challenges to Silicon Valley&rsquo;s prosperity.</p>
<p>They will also conduct research and release joint publications through Joint Venture&rsquo;s Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies and elsewhere, consistent with the mission of the USGS to provide the nation with reliable, impartial information to describe and understand the Earth.</p>
<p>"Partnerships such as this provide an innovative way to facilitate scientific and technological collaboration on a wide array of complex issues.&nbsp; This allows us to better understand and solve challenges that matter to the public, decision makers, and the scientific community." said USGS Pacific Region Director, Mark Sogge.</p>
<p>The partnership is an outgrowth of efforts by the USGS Innovation Center for Earth Sciences to work with public and private technology partners in Silicon Valley and elsewhere to design, test and bring into operation a new generation of technical and engineering tools to solve pressing national problems.</p><div class="feedflare">
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</div><img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/usgs/EnvironmentalHealth/~4/TdZM6CVG0Rw" height="1" width="1" alt=""/>Thu, 22 Oct 2015 13:00:00 EDTOC_Web@usgs.gov (Office of Communications and Publishing)http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=4365&from=rss